Swan dive . . .

Without a thought or a word, she let go. 

She let go of fear. She let go of judgments. She let go of the

confluence of

opinions swarming around her head.

She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the

‘right’ reasons. 

Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go. 

She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go. 

She just let go.

She let go of all the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the 

anxiety that kept her from moving forward. 

She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it 

just

right. She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. 

She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer. She made no public announcement. She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily 

horoscope. 

She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go. She didn’t call her 

friends to 

discuss the matter. She didn’t utter one word. 

She just let go. 

No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or

congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. 

Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go. 

There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad. 

It was what it was, and it is just that. 

In the space of letting go, she let it all be.A small smile came over her 

face. A light breeze blew through her. 

And the sun and the moon shone forevermore. 

Here’s to giving ourselves the gift of letting go… 

There’s only one guru ~ you.

Jennifer Eckert Bernau

~ I attended a Grief Project gathering a few weeks ago, and the above piece was shared with the group . . . I wish I could take credit for the beautiful expression, but I am still struggling with words to define my experience . . .but it does speak to my soul, to my journey, this path I'm traveling, unwilling, unwanting, unwitting. . . it resonates so clearly to me, as a person, in how i've always approached life, or, how I used to approach life, I should say, before all the rules changed. . . I like to think of letting go as a swan dive. . . soaring, graceful, arcing, transcending . . . who ever knows if it's "right' or "proper" or "wrong" or "whatever" label we feel the need to tag on life experiences? A big lesson I'm relearning (or maybe truly learning for the firs time), is to let go. Step off the edge. Loosen the grip. Take that leap. Take the chances. Let go of convention. Lose your mind and just let go. The net will appear. And if it doesn't? So what. it's life. Someone or something will catch you, carry you. Even when you're dying . . .